Closure for pressure vessels



- 29, 1950 c. w. THORNHILL 2,520,364

CLOSURE FOR PRESSURE VESSELS Filed May 29, 1945 q 3 4 ZW/W/V IN V EN TOR.

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A 770mm 4 g- 29, 1950 c. w. THORNHILL CLOSURE FOR PRESSURE VESSELS 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed May 29, 1945 M in MI INVENTOR. 5 M. Emmi/44,

/? ffaxP vf Patented Aug. 29, 1950 GEOSUREFOR; PRESSURE vEssELs- Charles-W. Themhil rrioustun, T x-, es nore-v ThornhilI-Craver fl-omramt. Ho ston, T x a corporation of'Texas Application Mayta 1945;. SterialNorfiflfiisdia (o1. zap-25 object the provision of a joint which. willtend to" seat. itself more tightly under. pressure. rather than tending. to loosen, as. is the case. with t e. usual closure which is appliedfrom the outside. of. a pressure. vessel..

The invention has further. reference. ta: novel arrangements for manipulating a closurememher into and. out. of. closing. position with respect to such p essure vessel or th fliker The invention has for one of" its objects. the. provision of tin-improved. device whereby a perfectly tight joint, between. the material; Oi. a; 010.- sure member and the material oil a. pressure; vessel, may be. obtained WithQut, the. aid of p kin material, While, at th same timetheclo sure member may bereadily introducedihtqnqsition from the exterior oi the vesseL.

Theinvention has for a further object the. {2120,- Vision of, a. thin. metal ring or ga ket. for the. closure member,, which gasket in they event. the. mating surfaces onthe closure member anditlie. aperture are initially imperfectly. fitted. or bercome so due to wear or corrosion, serves. tesealL the joint between the closure member and; the; aperture.

Various other advantageafibiects and characteristies of the invention. Willv become apparent. from thefollowing description takeninconnfiqtion with the accompanying drawings in which;

Figure 1' is a vertical sectional vieiv,,partly in; elevation, of a pressure. vessel havin an open.- ing therein and. a closure therefor constructed in accordance with this invention;

Figure 2 is a vertical sectional vieWL partly, in, elevation, taken at a rightjangle to Figure. 1;;

Figure 3' is a plan view of Figure. 2).. omitting, the closure member;

Figure; 4 is a sectional view taken on line. 4f4 of Figure 3;

Figure 5 is av plan view'of the closure member of Figures 1' and 2;

Figure 6" is a vertical sectional view, partly elevation, showing the aperture which, is, to be, covered and the manner of introducing the clo- SUIB;

Figure 71s a plan view showing the aperture: which is to be covered and the manner oi intreducing the closure;

Figure 8' is a plan view of the gasket employed; on the closure;

Figure 9' is a vertical sectional View on they line 31-?- of' Figure 8;

Figure 10,- is; a.. modified. form of the invention. in; which vessels, operatingunder very highpressures. are involved: and in which the. angle oi the seatin surfaces with re pect to. anaxis of he closure. memb r is very g eat;

Figure 11 isa planvi w akenon-the line t i=- Qi Figure 1.0 ;v

Figure, 12 is. a, modified. form: of; the invention: in which. vessels operating. underlower pressures. are. involved and; in whichthe angl oftheseat ing surfaces; with. respect to an; axis. o the: 31.9w sure. m mb r" ismuchlessthan iiii u 0;-v and Figure 13 is a plan vievv takenontheline: lit-=13: f. Figure 12..

Referring, first; to the form illustrated inEigr ur s 1. o 9 inc1usive,. he0n ng I in henreesure vessel, 2.1m. whieha he closure 3- i i e ated is circular. andltapered upwardly and inwardly fr the. inside, of. the vessel. toward the outside, or" from the. high pressure side. toward. the low prose sure side, and: the closure 3 is. similarly formed with a tapering. edge. 4.

However, at. diametrically opposite pointsofi the opening 1-,v see Figure 3;, there are cut out portions or. notches 5, and 6,,the notches beingisopcontrolled that they. cut. away substantially:- one.-- half of the seating surface of; that portion of? the tapered. opening, within the zone, of. the notches. The closure member 3" is cut away: by

slicing. 01?. or r moving a-fiatteneo portion. t as indicated very clearly. in Eigures- 1,. 2,, 5. and. 6; thi portion being of suchextent that. it cuts away substantially one-half of the: axial: length of the; eating Surface. 4. oi the closure: member, arrangement. provides a; combination in. which;

' the minimum, overall dimension of; the clesi-ine,

member 3, is. substantially the sameas the ma 1 mum innerdimensionof. the opening in: the vesselso that the closure member may be'turned siele ways, as indicatedin Figures 6- and '7, and .ins r eci through, the. opening, though withoutthe cutaway ortions 1. andnotchesj and 6;. it could: not'loe so inserted... The closure. member istheni. turned so that; the notehes and; cutaway, porti ns do, not register with each other but are at sub st ntially rieht an les to; eacho he as in 1- eat di Figure. 2, nd-theclosureimem ris; .hen drawn into seating enga ment w th; he; pres s re vessel. and. heldin lace. by a: nut 8.: on: stem? 9.,tt1j1e. nut; engaging the face of: a bridge 118: that brideesthe, outside. of the; openin I.. In; Figure. .2, there is. provided in the bridge M3,. a. notch: lzl, which receives the: stem 9-, so.- that the bridge may beplaced aboutithe. stern Without remov ing. the. nut 3.... There is a; sli h r ss on t2 in the bridge in the region where the nut 8 contacts the bridge, so that the surface of the nut 8 will be enabled to rock therein and be reto Figure 9 it will be seen that the:cut-away"portions are made parallel to the vertical axis, whereas, by reference to Figure 1, it will be seen that the cut-away portions on the closure member are made at an angle to the vertical axis of the closure member, with the result that the'gasket' will have small corner portions ll, see Figures 2 and 8, that may be turned under adjacent the ends of the cut-away portions '1, for thepurpose of holding the gasket in place On the member 3. The member 3 may be'used with or without the gasket, depending upon the circumstances of use, such as the finish or condition of the mating surfaces, the type of fluid to be sealed against, the involved pressures and temperatures in the vessel, etc. But, if a gasket is employed it should be made of gasket material softer than either the closure member metal or the opening seat metal, so that any damage such as scoring or the like would take place on the gasket rather than on either of the above elements, and the gasket should be easily replaceable.

' In Figures 10 and 11, there is shown a modified form of the invention in which vessels operating under very high pressures are involvedand in which the angle of the seating surfaces with respect to the vertical axis of the closure'rnemher is very great. This form might be used where very high pressures are involved, so asito pre vent excessive hoop tension in the metal surrounding the opening of the vessel. As shown, the metal may be thickened as at 20,.and'also rounded as indicated to assist in taking this hoop tension. Other structural features shown in'Figures wand 11 are the same as those found in Figures 1 to 9 inclusive.

Where vessels capable of dealing with lower pressures are involved, the form of the invention shown in Figures 12 and 13 may be employed.

The angle of the seating surfaces may be much less, as-indicated, to obtain a higher seating pressure, and the depth of the notches and the amounts ofmetal cut away from the closure, ele-1 'ment will be very substantiall lessthan in the forms previously described, 'even though the opening in the vessel which is left when the closure element is removed'is exactly the same as.

in the other forms. V

It is to be noted that by making the notches V-shaped as indicated in the various'figures of the drawings, the necessit for tilting the closure element to substantially right angles to the plane of the opening, is eliminated, and the closure may be inserted'when it is on a'much'smaller angle, say 45, as indicated in Figures Sand '7.

These notches in the member 2 are adjacent the aperture and each of the notches intersect the seat along lines which, when viewed in elevation along a radius of the seat surface, substantially intersect at the narrowest portion of the seat. (See Fig. 1.) Due to the undercut characterrof the surface I on the closure, the closure will pass through the notches, because the closure at the undercut is V-shaped in cross'sectionalong a plane including or parallel to the axis of the tapered seat of the closure. With this character of notch at the aperture and this undercut on the closure, the narrowest portion of the aperture seatmay be substantially one-half the maximum width of the aperture seat.

It is to be noted that one of the important aspects of this invention resides in the fact that the tapered circular seat lends itself to easil calculated seat pressures. For low pressures a smaller angle will multiply the total force on the plug to any desired seat pressure whereas for higher pressures a larger angle will decrease hoop tension in the pressure vessel'around the aperture. Taking into account the total area of the plug exposed to pressure, and the pressures to be sealed against, and the area of the seating surface, the correctv angle of the seating surfaces to obtain the proper seat pressure per square inch may be readily calculated by well known principles of machine design. ,7

7 While the invention has been described with respect to certain preferred constructions, it will be understood by those skilled in the art after understanding the invention, that various changes and modifications may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention and it is intended therefore in the appended claims to coverv all such changes and modifications;

Having described my invention, I claim:

1. In a structure of the character described, a member adapted to hold a pressure differential andhaving a circular aperture therein the edge of which is tapered from the high pressure side toward the low pressure side of the member to provide a tapered closure seat, a circular closure having itsedges tapered to'provide a taperedseat complementar to the tapered seat in the aperture, the edges of said aperture and closure being each cut away at diametrically opposite points to cut away a portion only of the width of the tapered seat in each instance and provide a maximum dimension for said aperture slightly greater than the maximum dimension across the cutaway portions ofsaid closure, whereby said closure may be passed through said aperture and then seated therein with cutaway portions of the aperture and closure out of register, and a thin gasket of relatively soft material covering and removably si on of'the'closure provided by the cut away portionsthereof less than the maximum dimension of said aperture'provided by the cut awa portions thereof to permit the gasket to be passed -through the aperture withsaid closure while so secured to said closure. r

I 2. In a structured thei'character described, a member adapted to hold a pressure differential and having a circular aperture-thereinthe edge of which is tapered from the high pressure side toward the low pressure side of the member to' provide a, tapered closure seat, a circular closure having its edges. tapered to provide a tapered seat complementary to. the tapered seat in. the aperture, the edges of said aperture and closure being each .cut away at diametrically opposite points to cut away a portion only of the width of the tapered seat in each instance and provide a maximum dimension for said aperture slightly greater than the maximum dimension across the cutaway portions of said closure, whereby said closure may be passed through said aperture and then seated therein with the cutaway portions of the aperture and closure out of register, a gasket of relativel soft material covering the seating surface on said closure, and means for removably securing said gasket in place on said closure independent of said apertured member, said closure with gasket secured thereon being of such dimensions as to be insertable through said aperture at its said maximum dimension.

3. In a structure of the character described, a member adapted to hold a pressure differential and having a circular aperture therein the edge of which is tapered from the high pressure side toward the low pressure side of the member to provide a tapered closure seat, a circular closure having its edges tapered to provide a tapered seat complementary to the tapered seat in the aperture, the edges of said aperture and closure being each cutaway at diametrically opposite points to cutaway a portion only of the width of the tapered seat in each instance and provide a maximum dimension for said aperture slightly greater than the maximum dimension across the cutaway portions of said closure, whereby said closure may be passed through said aperture and then seated therein with the cutaway portions of the aperture and closure out of register, a gasket of relatively soft material for covering the seating surface on said closure and removably secured to the closure independently of the apertured member, said gasket being cut away at diametrically opposite points to provide a minimum dimension at the smallest transverse dimension of the closure provided by the cut away portions thereof not greater than said smallest transverse dimension of the closure.

4. A gasket adapted for use in conjunction with a closure of the character described having a frusto-conical seating surface with portions cut away at two diametrically opposed positions, said gasket comprising a frusto-conical sheet metal body having diametrically opposed portions cut away adjacent its outer edge along planes substantiall parallel to the axis of its conical surfaces.

5. A gasket adapted for use in conjunction with a closure of the character described having a frusto-conical seating surface with portions cut away at two diametrically opposed positions, said gasket comprising a frusto-conical body of formable sheetlike material having diametrically opposed portions cutaway adjacent its outer edge along planes substantially parallel to the aXis of the conical surfaces.

6. A gasket adaptable for use in conjunction with a closure of the character described having a frusto-conical seating surface with portions cut 6 away at two diametrically opposed positions, said gasket comprising a frusto-conical body of sheetlike deformable material having its outer edge formed with two diametrically opposed cut away portions at its outer edge, said gasket having extensions of the material of the gasket at the outer most edge of the gasket but spaced from said cut away portions adapted to be bent about a closure to secure the gasket thereto in service.

7. In a structure of the character described, a member adapted to hold a pressure differential and having a circular aperture therein the edge of which is tapered from the high pressure side toward the low pressure side of the member to provide a tapered closure seat, a circular closure having its edges tapered to provide a tapered seat complementary to the tapered seat in the aperture, the inner edge of said aperture seat and the outer edge of said closure seat being each cut away at diametrically opposite points to cut away a portion only of the width of the tapered seat in each instance and provide a maximum dimension for said aperture slightly greater than the maximum dimension across the cut away portions of said closure, the pressure side of the closure being under cut at the cut away portion so that the edge of the closure in cross section at the cut away portion is V-shaped, the cut away portions in the edge of the aperture providing notches in the member adjacent the aperture, each of said notices intersecting the seat along lines which, when viewed in elevation along a radius of the seat surface, substantiall intersect at the narrow portion of the seat and diverge therefrom toward the low pressure side of the aperture whereby said closure may be passed through said aperture and then seated therein with the cut away portions of the aperture and seat out of register.

CHARLES W. THO'RNHILL.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 542,431 Vallat July 9, 1895 2,156,166 Smith Apr. 25, 1939 2,271,411 Thwaits Jan. 27, 1942 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 3,143 Great Britain of 1891 14,377 Great Britain July 12, 1899 18,069 Great Britain of 1897 51,784 Germany May 5, 1890 

